Jet Airways and Etihad emerge as the fastest growing airlines in India after tie-up

UAE national carrier Etihad and Jet Airways have emerged as the fastest growing airlines in India, thanks to their partnership which has allowed these two airlines to collectively use Abu Dhabi as a hub for Indian globetrotters to travel between their country and the rest of the world.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation data on international traffic for calendar year 2015 shows that the top 10 airlines in terms of flying passengers in and out of India remained largely the same as the previous year but for one exception. Etihad entered the list at number five position by flying 21.4 lakh passengers in and out of India. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier was at number 16 in 2014 with a traffic of under 10 lakh in and out of India.

And, its partner Jet Airways - which remained the single largest airline here in terms of international passenger carriage - carried 70.7 lakh flyers in and out of India in 2015 - up 27% from previous year's figure of 55.6 lakh. While Etihad's over 100% growth in India is mainly attributed to its competitive pricing, Jet is witnessing a surge in international passengers as it into Etihad's hub at Abu Dhabi from 10 Indian cities - a number that will rise to 23.

Together, Jet-Etihad carried 92.1 lakh people in and out of India in 2015, almost a million more than Air India and AI Express' combined figure of 82.3 lakh. Their coming together threatens Emirates' position as the de facto national carrier of India as the Dubai-based airline flew 53.7 lakh people to and from India - almost as many as Air India on a standalone basis.

Thanks to the Jet-Etihad tie-up, now the top 10 airlines by international passenger carriage have four Indian and six Gulf carriers. Indian carriers' that fly abroad - AI group, Jet, IndiGo and SpiceJet - together flew 1.8 crore people in and out of India last year and Gulf carriers together were not far behind at about 1.5 crore.

While Etihad India head could not be contacted, top travel industry figures in India said Etihad has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to woo Indian flyers.

Cox & Kings' business travel head John Nair said: "Etihad's code share with Jet, combined with its own network in India, enables customers here to seamlessly connect to Abu Dhabi. With a wide network and code share partners, Indian customers enjoy connectivity to interior points in Africa and Europe (from Abu Dhabi). Etihad comes out with attractive fares to tap the growing outbound market and they come out with promotional fares which are cheaper than competition."

Travel portal Yatra president Sharat Dhall said Etihad's hub Abu Dhabi offers pre-clearance to US, which is proving to be a big draw for America-bound travellers.

Image credit: Indiatimes